Training within the Halls of a Hero
Previous Story > Eternal Rivals, Miko and Saori. ---- Following his battle with Saori, Ao was hurt and in need of medical attention as he was bleeding profusely. Staggering he slowly made his way down the mountain to a clearing before he took a Capsule out his pocket and activated it. Staggering more he climbed in and started it up, aiming to try to fly to the nearest town to seek help, however due to his injuries and lack of the sight in one eye, he passed out and landed on the accelerator which sped him from to , and due to this, his fuel ran out, causing him to crash within the grounds of Ryōzanpaku. A loud crash came to the ears of the man who had owned the property of Ryōzanpaku. It was rather early, so the silver-haired man within the grounds yawned in deeply as he shrugged off the sound as negligible. Walking to the front gate, he opened it, expecting morning mail. But apparently there was a far bigger package lying down in front of the dōjō. This man was Jiraiya, master of the house and one of the masters residing there. With a rather lazy look, which was also rather surprisingly nonchalant, given the circumstances, he stared at the spherical spaceship. He walked up to the spaceship, and gave it a light kick with his right foot, opening up the door. Tumbling out, Ao hit the dirt and was unconscious and bloody, having a slightly fractured leg and arm, as well as a gash above his eye. Groaning in pain to show he was still alive, he lay there limp as some of his blood leaked from the open pod door. Jiraiya's eyes were narrowed in a comical annoyance, his foot gently rubbing against the young boy's face, moving it back and forth. "Hey! Wake up." But no response came. Adding to his annoyance, he called out for a friend. Out walked Tsunade, a purple-haired woman with a full-figured body. "Tsunade, would you mind bringing this guy inside? And attending to his injuries? I'll provide the bone-setting." Within the hour, Tsunade had carried the unconcious body and did what she could to clean off the blood from his body, providing any and all needed first aid. She eventually took off the bloodied clothing, and dressed Ao with a standard japanese kimono, typically worn for relaxment. Jiraiya stood overhead, awaiting for Ao to regain consciousness. Two hours passed before Ao regained consciousness and when he awoke he was startled by the two figures in the room with him, let alone the change of his attire. He tried to bow to them as best he could, thanking them for their help, as he asked where he was currently apologizing if he intruded. He tried to explain his story as best he could, telling them that he had been fighting high in the mountains of the with a girl who he had marked as his rival due to their similar powers. Following trying to fly to a village at the foot of the mountain he didn't remember, which annoyed him. Jiraiya crossed his arms, his finger tapping at the edge of his bicep as he listened to Ao's story. "I see... And I can finish the rest of that story. It ends with you crashing your spaceship into my front lawn." he commented. Tsunade chuckled softly, "It's alright, Jiraiya. No harm done. Besides, Kensei loves doing yard work." Tsunade then looked at the young boy. "We tried to attend to your injuries. Do you feel much pain?" she asked. Nodding slightly Ao said. "Yes, a bit but it is only just higher than my normal threshold." Pointing to his scarring on his legs from repeated use of his Radical Burst ability. Thanking them he tried to get up but his leg prevented him from going far. "I should be used to these fractures by now." He said as he tried to use his Ki Transcription but it failed only producing the aura around him before fading. "It seems you're still a bit drained." stated Jiraiya, taking the young man's arm in his own hand. "You have quite the level of power... Are you a Saiyan?" "Saiyan?" He asked as he looked at the Silver Haired noble before him, even with his below average ability to sense Ki, he could feel the high level of Ki within him and it made him shudder. "From what I know about myself, I think I am human, but I don't know what the scientist added to me after I was born, considering I have this ability known as Ki Transcription." "Hmm... so you are an artificial. Perhaps I was mistaken on that." Jiraiya stood up, looking down at the young boy. "So Ao, tell me. Regarding this Saori person you fought, what are you planning to do in order to defeat her?" he asked. "Beat her into a pulp, She holds the ability named Full Throttle, which is the opposite of my own since she changes her arm, where I change my legs, forming a streamlined armor to move at inhuman speeds. I am more of a physical combat type of person, despite in my travels I have seen blast being used by others, I do not know how to use them." He explained as he said as he heard his stomach rumbling. "Um sorry to interrupt but do you have any food?" He asked the master of the dojo. "Rather blunt, aren't ya?" Jiraiya chuckled, before turning to Tsunade, as she nodded. Before long, she had set quite a number of traditional foods, including the standard bowl of rice in front of Ao. "Being bloodied and bruised from a fight, regardless of its outcome, is not called winning. It's called lucky survival." "You are correct in that respect Master Jiraiya...." He said as he started eating to fuel his extremely high metabolism. As he ate he felt bad for fighting and losing especially when he caused so much trouble for these fine noble people. "Master Jiraiya, may I ask you a favor..... Will you train me?" He asked as he finished the bowel of rice. "Train you?" he asked, rather softly. "That's rather silly to ask outright. I could, after all, be even weaker than you are. What would you hope to gain from a weaker person?" he followed up. He did not plan to be too straightforward with the boy, hoping to see what level of mental awareness Ao was capable of. "Even with my limited ability to sense Ki I can sense that is not true, your very aura is quite large." He said as he tried to focus more to get an accurate reading. "I sense that your power is larger than anyone else on this planet.... but with your level of knowledge of alien races, I don't think you are completely human are you?" He asked calmly. With that, Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh a bit as Tsunade soon left the room, attending to her own business. Jiraiya brought his hand to his chin, pondering the matter. "Let's go to the courtyard, outside." he stated, motioning toward a door that led to the center of the dojo. Flinching he slowly got up after he stopped eating and followed the master into the courtyard, limping as he did so. It hurt to walk but he was slowly getting used to his injuries since he has had worse done to him, from using his powers too long. Training under Master Jiraiya Lesson One Jiraiya stood in the midst of the rather large courtyard, with his arms firmly crossed. "I want to assess your level of power first. So, I'd like you power up. As much as you can." he stated. Ao didn't know what he meant by powering up, so since he had regained the bulk of his energy from eating, he simply focused on his inner ki and translated it into his Ki Transcription, leading to him emanating the typical aura as he broke down matter into more ki energy and then transformed it on his lower legs. This caused his legs to split open, breaking the splints and allowing him to form his armor. "I think this is what you mean...." He said as the armor solidified and turned pale blue. "Eh... sure. Something like that. But I really meant... this." Jiraiya stood his ground, curling his hands into fists as he began to shout out. A large white aura soon overtook him as his roar became even louder, bright white energy enveloping him as the skies above them became dark, the ground beneath them shaking. The aura burst as if it was a hungry flame, waving around wildly. Soon after, Jiraiya began to power down, as the ground and skies returned to their normal phases. He breathed in slowly, and looked over to Ao. "That was about a third of my power. When I said, power up, I meant to allow your ki to- Well..." Jiraiya rubbed his neck. "You're unable to utilize ki willingly, huh?" Ao stared in awe as he watched this and he nodded. "I've never had to do that, so I guess I can't willingly mold ki." He said as he looked at the ground. "I have a lot to learn I see." He said as he looked at his armored boots and then back to Jiraiya. "Where do we start? What do I do to charge my ki?" "Well..." He sighed softly, sitting down on a rock formation in the courtyard garden. "I want you to sit down and focus on only a black circle. A circle that is void and empty of any substance. An empty black circle. Once you have this thought in mind, I want you to imagine the circle getting larger and larger. Keep it a consistent circle shape while letting it get bigger and bigger. As this occurs, I want you to give a dimension to the circle, turning it into a hole that as it gets wider, it gets deeper and deeper." Jiraiya explained. Nodding, Ao sat on the ground and crossed his legs, focusing on the said black circle. While he closed his eyes, he pictured a void, empty space, which reminded him greatly of the place he was held as a child. This circle was about the size of a penny when it stabilized and following this he tried to get it to become larger, expanding it slightly having it grow to the size of a quarter before it grew rapidly, to which Ao tried to control its rate of expansion as he started to grow afraid of this unknown new feeling as the large void started to gain depth and become a pit of darkness. In the outside world, his ki started to encircle him and the azure aura surrounded his body. "Good... Good... Now, stop the expanding and instead draw it back in. Make the circle smaller and smaller until it returns to its original state. As you do this... hold your hands in front of you as if you're holding something. If you do this right... you should be able to focus the ki aura into a small ki energy ball." he explained. Flinching he nodded, his eyes still closed as he moved his hands forming a circle with his fingers as he tried to shrink the large pit he had created with his mind. He started to strain himself as he did this since he was very inexperienced at doing so and as a result he slowly started to make the pit become smaller and soon it was a large circle, but making it the size of a penny once again proved harder. Jiraiya nodded softly, watching the boy focus his aura. "Do not speed up. Keep the rate consistent or you'll lose control and it'll explode in your face." he commented. "Imagine that the hole's origin is in your hands... Focus the circle getting smaller in your hands..." he continued. Ao's aura flared out wildly, as he tried to control his own immense power, listening to his new teacher as he focused on his hands, opening his eyes and picturing the void in his palms as he saw a orb appear in his hands and then it started to shrink to the size of a penny as the original spot had been. "Like this?" He said as he for a second lost focus and it expanded and blew up, turning his face black with ash and dirt. "Darn it!" After it exploded, Jiraiya responded with a light laughter. "That wasn't too bad. You gotta watch the timing. Keep everything consistent. Using ki is akin to how the waves in the ocean move. You allow the ki to rise up high, allowing it envelop your body, and then compress it within a specific region. In this case, your hands. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. That's what you have to become accustomed to. And once you do, you'll be able to use ki blasts without having to focus your aura first." he explained. "Now then... Do it again." Wiping his face, he nodded and focused again, forming a small orb, trying to keep his energy flow consistent as well as not triggering his other power at the same time. This separation of Ki energy was taxing on him, but he didnt care, he wanted to be more than he was, more than a human, he wanted to surpass his limits. "Ok, I think I have it now." He said as he held his right hand up, holding the small orb in his palm. "Its Azure?" He questioned "Is that normal?" Lesson Two Jiraiya stood to his feet and nodded. "That is merely the color of your aura. Every living being's aura manifests as a unique color. For humans, it is typically white. For Saiyans, it is typically blue." He slowly walked over to Ao. "Lesson one cleared. You've successfully learned to manifest your aura. Next is lesson two. Learning to maintain and handle it." Jiraiya proceeded to throw a roundhouse kick for Ao's head. "Dodge my attacks while holding onto that ki orb!" Ao flipped back, handing on his right leg, trying to maintain his ki, which was hard to do and keep his speed in check. Moving rather nimbly he tried to stay on his toes, but also not go supersonic using both hands to hold the ki ball. However, Jiraiya wasn't planning to slow down his kicks. Another leg thrust up for Ao's chest immediately. But that wasn't all. Jiraiya was throwing punch after punch, following behind each of his perfectly-executed kicks. Each and every kick aiming for either Ao's head or stomach; two locations that, if struck, would cause Ao to lose control of the ki orb he was holding. Ao ducked and flipped, trying to dodge his attacks, but he was losing his touch due to his injuries. As he juggled his ki orb, he tried to run but he couldn't as his left leg was still broken and he couldn't move his right arm very far as it was in a sling still. As he landed his last time he felt a sharp pain in his gut as he flew into a nearby tree. "Dammit..." He said as his orb faded. "AGAIN!" He said as he formed another, with some difficulty. Jiraiya nodded, bearing a smile that reflected his satisfaction with Ao's persistence. He charged in, and just like before, his kicks went flying for either the head or stomach, his fists doing the same. As he dodged he focused on moving and harnessing his energy running faster and circling around Jiraiya as he did so. He tried to move just as nimbly as he would when he was in better shape. Jiraiya's leg thrust upwards, aiming for Ao's head. As this missed, Jiraiya's hand was flat and his palm was aimed for Ao. His hand formed an orb of ki, forming into a medium-sized beam of energy, aiming for Ao's stomach. Ao's eyes widened as he used his orb to block the blast, sending one of his own, however this was no where near as powerful as Jiraiya's and it only curbed the blast, sending him back some. Jiraiya grinned, dodging the attack effortlessly as he fired another beam of energy for Ao. "It seems you have a handle on using ki! But let's see if you can battle while firing them." With that, Jiraiya disappeared, reappearing beside Ao, aiming another kick and fist for his head while the energy beam was still making its way for Ao. Ao flinched, instinctively using his traditional dodging tactic, by spinning on the spot he kicked up the air around him and spun it at high speeds, this managed to block the beam, but the punch and kicks was another story. "Not bad... but we've got a lot of work to do!" Jiraiya called out. Progress Thus Far Two weeks had past from the beginning of Ao's training. Besides a six hour break every night for sleep and two collective hours for meals, Ao's days were filled with either sparring, meditation, or energy conservation training. Day after day, Jiraiya noticed Ao's skills climbing up. Before long, Jiraiya could tell that Ao's power level had increased, by at least a factor of two or three. Jiraiya jumped back, cupping his hands for Ao, whom was bruised from today's sparring round. "Ka... Me... Ha... Me..." Jiraiya then thrust his hands out, releasing an immense burst of blue ki for Ao. "Ha!!!" Witnessing the beam, Ao who hadn't used Radical Burst at all during these last two weeks outside his initial training instinctively activated it and tried to focus his ki into his feet as he kicked a ki ball from his foot at the incoming beam. The ball kept the beam at bay for a short time before it was pushed back at him knocking him on his ass. "What was that?" He asked. Jiraiya held his hand out for the young boy to help him up. "That was called the Kamehameha Wave. And it's the next part of the training. I'll be teaching you how to use it." he explained. "First, cup your hands behind you. Focus your ki, like we practiced these two weeks on, while reciting the incantation. Ka. Me. Ha. Me. The trick to the wave technique is to allow the ki to become as large as it can be without letting it explode from your fingertips. Allow it to essentially "dance" at the edges of your palms as you focus the energy. Then, with a thrust forward of both hands, you yell out. HA! I want you to practice it and fire it at me." he asked. "But wouldn't firing it at you be dangerous?" He asked as he looked at his hands, before dispersing his Radical Burst from his legs and moving to be in a better stance to use this technique. Looking up he did as he was told and cupped his hands behind him, focusing on the void in his palms, connecting the two lessons of focus and stability before reciting the incantation. "Ka....me....ha....me......" He said as he felt the energy building up and finding it hard to maintain as he tried to keep it compressed. "That's it... Keep the energy steady but flowing... And when you've brought it as dense as you can, then you fire!" he directed, cupping his own hands to form his own Kamehameha wave. "Ready? We'll clash and see if you can maintain a struggle of ki." Jiraiya then thrust his hands out, firing a large burst of blue ki for Ao. He just did as he was told, focusing his energy as he kept chanting the incantation, before he thrust his palms outwards and yelled. "HA!!!!" He said as he felt the flow of ki leave his body in a steady manner. The two beams of energy, seemingly equal in power, clashed into one another, entering into a ki deadlock. "Good! Now let's see if you can overpower my attack!!" he called out, pumping more power into his attack, forcing Ao to respond. Ao tried to regulate his energy to match the increase in Jiraiya's energy output but he couldn't keep it stable, as he did so. Once he pumped energy into his beam, it started to destabilize and soon faded as Jiraiya's beam flew towards him to which he dodged to the right. Jiraiya let the beam fly upwards, into the sky as it too eventually dissipated. But only a moment after, another ball of energy was forming at Jiraiya's cupped hands. "Again Ao!" He was quicker this time, firing out the beam immediately. Ao got up and cupped his hands again, firing another beam at Jiraiya's, pumping all he could into the blast, so that he could counter his teachers. Once more, the two beams of energy clashed into one another. Jiraiya's wave was pushing with much more force than before. "Ao, bring it out! Deep down! Make that circle in your mind as big as possible and make it compact!!" Ao dug deep down, deep within his mind as he looked into his pool of ki. He did as he was told and made the circle in his mind grow large and then made it small rather quickly. This caused his inner ki to run wild as he fired a larger blast at Jiraiya, something that he had no control over. Jiraiya added even more energy to his own attack, matching Ao's own enhanced attack. "Ao! Allow the hole to get deeper... but keep the circle's width the same! Don't let it change! Gain control of the attack!" Digging deep, he regained control of his new technique, and dug his heels into the dirt as he stabilized the beam and kept it constant. "I think I am getting the hang of this." Jiraiya then directed the attack toward the sky, forcing Ao's own attack to follow suit. The two attacks exploded into wisps of energy, as Jiraiya regained his breath. "Good... You've successfully learned Kamehameha. But the true technique that will assist you is what we will cover next." The Art of Quakes Panting heavily he looked at Jiraiya and looked confused. "What kind of technique is that?" He asked as he looked at him eager to continue training. "Do me a favor and form that armor-looking thing you showed me before." Jiraiya asked. As he had gotten stronger, he choose to use his Gear Second, rather than his Gear First. "Alright." He said as his armor started to form, traveling up his legs and down his arms like liquid living metal, this armor form a skate like boot, and armored fist. The armor formed around his back like a vest, with three spikes on the back which matched the spikes on his arms and legs, totaling up to seven when counted, his hair flared out some and he gain protection on his face in the form of a glasses-like vizor and a mouth guard. "Here you go." Jiraiya held up his right hand, which was now glowing with a thin translucent aura of ki. Without warning, he thrust his hand for Ao's chest, his palm making contact as a burst of energy escaped his fingertips, causing the armor to slowly crumble away, piece by piece. Jiraiya pulled his hand back. "This technique is called Jishindō, and will be your final training. However, while it is the final training, it is also the hardest to learn and will take the longest amount of time to learn." he explained. Visibly shocked, Ao looked at Jiraiya and nodded accepting this final step and was eager to learn it no matter the time it would take. "I accept." He said as he regained his composure. "Jishindō is called the "art of quakes". In theory, everything can be broken down. Structures, buildings, trees... Even opponents can be disrupted and broken down. This technique will allow you to break those kinds of concentrations using your own ki to disrupt the opponent's ki." Jiraiya explained. "First, you'll need to focus an aura like before. But this time, you will use your newfound focus over your energy to make the aura very thin and narrow, allowing it to outline your entire body." He did as he was told but this was like he said hard to maintain. Focusing on his ki he tried to make it flow around his body but when he imposed his will on it it flared out wildly and uncontrollably. "I don't think I can do this..." He said as he stopped after a few minutes of trying to control his ki aura. "Focus Ao. Allow the circle hole to become as deep and big as it must be... and then do not allow it to increase in size. Maintain it." he explained. He tried to focus his his ki as he mentally created the image of the hole which then grew deeper, becoming a large winding tunnel. When it reached its bottom he maintained it and kept it constant. "Very good. Now... while keeping it, I want you to engage me in battle. Maintain the energy aura while fighting me." Jiraiya explained, getting into his stance. Getting into a fighting pose, he changed his normal stance as he was not using his armor. Channeling some of his aura into his legs he ran towards the Master and moved to lick him, aiming for his gut. If it connected, he had an idea of what to do next. Jiraiya took a big step back, dodging the attack by a narrow margin. "When attacking me with that aura, you have to imagine that you're striking me with a finely-sharped needle that is backed by every ounce of your internal ki." Nodding Ao jumped into the air and then flipped in the air, slamming his heel down below him. "Radical Impact!" He said using the technique for the first time unaided. "Hah!!" Jiraiya powered up a bit more, his fiery white aura forming as he blocked the heel with his arm, throwing another fist for Ao's stomach. Ao twisted on his heel, using Jiraiya's arm as a platform to kick his fist quickly, using his aura to increase the force of his attack. Jiraiya allowed the strikes to continue, using his momentum to duck and jump under Ao, behind him, spinning his stretched-out leg to slam his heel onto Ao's head. Ao kicked off of Jiraiya's last strike and flipped before meeting the incoming foot with his own, the two kicks meeting with great force. The force of the impact caused the two to push off from one another. Jiraiya chuckled with a pant. "You're quite the fast learner... but to master this will require more than just being able to fight with me. In order to prove you can use this technique, you'll need to be able to dispell my aura!" he stated, as his aura boosted upwards, forming as a steady flame-like white aura. "Come on!" Smirking while panting, Ao transcribed his armor and then charged ki into it usign a new variation he made on the spot. Unknown if it would distract his teacher, he started to sprint towards Jiraiya and then propelled himself into the air, as he chanted a familiar incantation. "KamehameHA!" He said as he kicked a fast sphere of energy towards the master before vanishing from sight in an instant, only to reappear some ways behind him, charging the same beam in his palms, the exertion showing signs of strain. "HA!" He said firing a second beam. Jiraiya held out his arms, both stretched out, firing a blue beam of ki from each palm, clashing into both respective attacks. As the clash began to die down, Jiraiya disappeared from view, reappearing behind Ao, a ki orb in both hands. "Double Kamehame... HA!" he shouted, firing both immense beams at close range. His eyes widening wide, Ao tried to fire his own, but due to his fatigue and the fact that he has not had as much training with the technique as his teacher, he fails to deflect most of it in time, blasting him backwards. Looking up he picked himself back up and sprinted around his teacher, trying to think of a counter attack in order to land a solid hit with the Jishindō. Using flight, Jiraiya floated upside down, aiming his palms right for Ao. "HA!" he shouted, firing yet another Double Kamehameha Wave, even bigger than before. "Like I told you before, when we were practicing hand-to-hand combat! The safest spot you can be in during a fight is right next to the opponent!" Running up the nearest wall he propelled himself into the air, and used compressed air to move higher dodging the beam. Using the air pressure to keep himself airborne he wondered how his teacher was flying, but shrugged as he dove towards his teacher firing minor energy balls at him, using the smokescreen that resulted to hide his movements. Jiraiya held his arm up, protecting his eyes from the dust in the air, his vision blocked to a degree. "Darn it... where'd he go?" Coming up from below he focused the ki in his palm and tried to use the Jinshindō on his master, grabbing his foot with his right hand. "Please work..." He said in his mind. Jiraiya's eyes widened, his aura exploding as it would dissipate, but then he kicked Ao for the face, sending him flying off in the other direction. Jiraiya panted softly, but grinned. "Not bad... Not the best location for the strike, but... You were able to close off my ki flow." Jiraiya noted. Soon after, Tsunade had walked out onto the courtyard. "Alright guys, come on in! I ordered some takeout for dinner." she announced. Conclusion of the Training Unable to rebound quick enough Ao landed with a thud which jogged his memories of his early life, in the arms of his mother. This spurred his memories of his name and such, as he started to cry remembering his mothers face as it slowly faded to black. ".......so my name is Miko?" He questioned as he started to stand up and reverse his transcription. "Hm?" sounded Jiraiya as he stood over the boy. "Miko? I thought you said your name is Ao." "I named myself Ao because I didn't remember my real name, I was apart of a project called Project Blue, so the scientist always called me Ao..." He explained. "I think that impact jarred something in my mind because I vaguely remember my mothers face before they took me from her..." "I see... Hmm..." Jiraiya thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "Nevetheless, Tsunade's expecting us. So how about we get over there before she finishes all the food?" his mentor smiled, holding out his hand to pick Ao up. "Alright." He said taking his teachers hand and getting up to go eat, his final meal before heading off to start on a new journey, to find a new purpose other than to fight. As they were eating at the table, Tsunade handed Ao a new set of clothes. Similar to his old ones, although similar to a Taekwondo dobok, complete with the symbol of Ryōzanpaku on the back. "This is a graduation present from me and Jiraiya, for completing your training." Shocked he took the outfit and then stood up, bowing to them for taking him in. "Thank you so very much, I am honored to wear the emblem of this great school." He said as he fought the tears of being happy, having found loyal allies. Tsunade smiled warmly as Jiraiya grinned. "Well, we were happy to have a promising student such as you." As the night progressed, and morning soon arrived, the trio all met at the front gate. Jiraiya stood with his arms crossed, bearing a smile. "I hope you will take your skills and use them wisely." "I have learned a lot here and I don't think I will have the same mind set as before, I won't just pick a fight I have learned that is the wrong way to go with life." He said as he climbed into his pod, starting it up before heading for the location of Capsule Corporation as to repair his pod for space flight. "Take care my teacher." The End Category:Stories